A List of Disney Animated DVD's That Are Matted.

[Matt]

Ok since there are a lot of these coming out now and Lord knows how many more Disney will mess up with newer releases, lets start a list.

(P.S. Don't kill me if this was already started lol)

The Hunchback Of Notre Dame
ORA 1.66:1 matted to 1.85.1 16x9

Beauty and the Beast (Platinum Edition)
ORA 1.66:1 matted to 1.85:1 16x9

The Little Mermaid (Platinum Edition)
ORA 1.66:1 matted to 1.78:1 16x9

Dumbo (Big Top Edition)
ORA 1.33:1 a slight overscan with this Edition

Robin Hood (Most Wanted Edition)
OAR 1.33:1 matted to 1.75:1 16x9

Aristocats (Special Edition)
ORA 1.33:1 matted to 1.75:1 16x9

The Jungle Book (Platinum Edition)
ORA 1.33:1 matted to 1.75:1 16x9

Aladdin And The King Of Thiefs
ORA 1.33:1 matted to 1.85:1 16x9

Pooh's Grand Adventure:
The Search for Christopher Robin (Special Edition)
ORA 1.33:1 matted to 1.66:1 16x9

any other DVDs did I miss?

[David S.]

Robin Hood (Most Wanted Edition)
OAR 1.33:1 matted to 1.75:1

[MrIncredible]

Question, with some of these ones that have been matted to 1.75:1, why didn't they just mat it to 1.78:1, to match the dimensions of a standard 16:9 screen?

[Mickeyfan1990]

I know one:

Aladdin And The King Of Thieves
ORA 1.33:1 matted to 1.85:1 16x9 (even though the DVD Cover said it was 1.33:1)

[merlinjones]

The Shaggy Dog (1959) 1:33 matted to 1:75

[Flanger-Hanger]

Isn't Summer Magic 1.33:1 matted to 1.75:1?

[disneyfella]

A lot of the Disney films have been matted (both live action and animated), but there is a difference between "original aspect ratio" and "original theatrical aspect ratio".

As we learned in the 'Darby O'Gill and the Little People' DVD, a lot of the Disney films were shot in 1.33:1, but framed and shown in a matted format in theatres.

It was cheaper to animate a 4X3 frame and matte it, than it was to animate a widescreen image. Result? Disney animators made a film completely in 1.33:1, but their intention and framing was always for the film to be shown matted.

Now, a lot of people contend that you lose picture at the top and the bottom of the frame when you matte a picture.....and that is true. However, the intended image was always going to be a matted image and therefore you see what the director intended you to see.

I am against the open matte transfers simply because, who am I to say, "I know what was really intended". Call me a cinephile, but I believe in preserving the director's intent in both picture and sound quality. If that means matting a frame so be it.

A lot of people who championed the widescreen format might be unaware that they were already watching full-screen open matte live-action films....yet they, too, were pushing for a widescreen picture (even if it meant matting the frame). Now that animation is beind matted, for some reason I get a different vibe from people....like they want a full picture and/or widescreen has done something to their precious film.

Sorry for the brief rant, but I'll get off the soap-box.......

[Maerj]

I think that its funny that we have a matting thread started by someone named Matt!

[Matt]

I think that its funny that we have a matting thread started by someone named Matt!

That made my day lolol.

I forgot about Robin Hood.

So we should make an Animated List and a Live Action list.

[akhenaten]

mulan was matted to 1.85:1 in the limited issue dvd. as it was the original theatrical ratio.

[merlinjones]

The original Buena Vista ad campaign theatrical press books contain instructions for aspect ratio projection on each film. How hard can it be to look that up? Archives has them all.

[disneyfella]

The original Buena Vista ad campaign theatrical press books contain instructions for aspect ratio projection on each film. How hard can it be to look that up? Archives has them all.

Surely Dave Smith would be the ultimate source on this......I'd imagine that when Disney restores each of their films they research that kind of info in order to preserve the film........

[Matt]

^ but we can make a list.